Mahvash Sabet is recovering from heart surgery. The Iranian government should allow her to recover peacefully by never returning her to prison.
GENEVA – December 23, 2024 – Mahvash Sabet, an Iranian Baha’i prisoner of conscience, has been imprisoned by the Islamic Republic for over 13 years for his faith and was previously denied adequate medical treatment in prison despite serious and deteriorating conditions. I couldn’t do it. Despite having health problems and life-threatening illnesses, they were often barred from hospital treatment and underwent open-heart surgery.
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But once the recovery period is over, Mr. Mabash Sabet will be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his 10-year sentence.
The Baha’i International Community (BIC) calls for Ms. Sabet’s immediate and unconditional release, to revoke her prison sentence, and to ensure that Iranian authorities ensure that she will never be imprisoned again.
Mahvash Sabet was a member of the unofficial leadership group of the Baha’i community and was arrested in 2008 and imprisoned for 10 years along with six other associates. Baha’is in Iran have suffered systematic persecution from all walks of life. This is a situation that has been criticized by the United Nations and the international community for over 45 years.
Javaid Rehman, the former UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, reported that the Iranian government had targeted Baha’is with “genocidal intent.” Human Rights Watch called the treatment of Baha’is in Iran “a crime against humanity and persecution.”
Mr Mahvash Sabet was arrested for the second time in July 2022 despite suffering from a severe Covid infection and other health problems requiring treatment. In prison, she earned the respect and affection of her fellow inmates, many of whom saw her as a mother figure. The same was true, for example, of journalist Roxana Saberi, who repeatedly called for Mr. Sabet’s release.
Now, after more than 13 years in prison, repeated and severe physical and emotional abuse, and interrogation by Iranian authorities, Mr. Mabash Sabet is recovering from heart surgery resulting from years of medical neglect and abuse.
Several doctors have confirmed in writing that her health will collapse if she continues to be detained. This is exactly what happened.
In November 2022, after her second arrest, doctors declared that Ms. Mabash Sabet was suffering from ‘osteopenia, osteoporosis and tendonitis’ and that she was ‘unable to tolerate the prison environment as the disease progressed and required repeated visits. We confirmed in writing that we will not be able to do so. “It will be very difficult for her and her illness will worsen rapidly.” A second medical report said Mr Sabet suffered from “severe allergic asthma and chronic bronchitis” and was “unable to bear his sentence”.
Iranian authorities ignored these warnings. Mr Mabash Sabet must now return to Evin Prison to serve the remainder of his sentence – almost eight years – after undergoing heart surgery. The Baha’i international community calls for her prison sentence to be revoked and for her to be released and allowed to recover in peace.
“ma’am. Sabet has been facing a threatening health condition for many years and has not received the medical treatment she needs,” said Simin Fahandej, UN BIC representative in Geneva. “Instead of giving her the care she needed, the government placed her in solitary confinement and subjected her to lengthy and harsh interrogations. Mr. Sabet should never have been in prison in the first place, and if he faced health problems while in prison, he should have been released. “It is time for the Iranian government to fix this problem and immediately release her from prison so she can receive the care she needs with her family.”
Mr. Sabet’s health crisis mirrors similar cases faced by dozens of other Baha’is who have been wrongfully detained on baseless charges. BIC has received dozens of reports that Iranian authorities are ignoring the health concerns of detained Baha’is. This is a clear violation of detainees’ right to health care.
“The world knows Mabash Sabet as a courageous human rights defender. We are inspired by her courage in the face of cruelty and injustice,” said Ms. Fahandej. “But we are heartbroken by the way her life and health have been seriously affected and by the Iranian government’s brutal persecution of her, her fellow Baha’is, and the entire Baha’i community. “We call for an end to the cruelty and discrimination that allows the 71-year-old, who has already spent 13 years in prison, to continue to be persecuted with grave injustice.”
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom also said on December 13 that it was “deeply concerned by the hospitalization of the Baha’i leader Mahvash Sabet,” and that Iranian authorities were “removing her from prison.” “He was tortured repeatedly,” he added.
After his second imprisonment, in April 2023, it was reported that Mabash Sabet had his knee broken by security officials during interrogation at Evin Prison. Mr Sabet suffered serious injuries inside the prison walls and had to recover.
“Imagine entering a time when most people would be spending more time with their families, but instead staring at the walls of their prison cells, their minds and bodies breaking down and their hearts failing. If you can imagine this, you can understand some of the injustices that Mabashi continues to suffer,” Mr. Fahandej added.
“The Iranian government now has the opportunity to take positive action by ensuring that Mabash Sabet will never be sent to prison again,” Ms. Farhandez said. “Mabash deserves to recover from heart surgery with his family by his side. “Neither she nor any Baha’i or other prisoner of conscience should suffer one more minute of cruel suffering for their beliefs.”
More about Mahvash Sabet
● Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and defender of Mahvash Sabet and other Baha’i leaders during their 2008 trial, said there was ‘not a single shred of evidence’ to substantiate the charges related to national security. . This is a charge made by the Iranian government, including “spreading corruption on the planet.”
● In 2017, Mahvash Sabet was named ‘Courageous International Writer’ by International PEN for a series of poems he wrote in Evin Prison. Before her first imprisonment, she worked as an educator at the Baha’i Institute of Higher Education, which provides university-level education to young Baha’is in Iran who are unable to enter higher education institutions because of their faith.
● One of Mahvash Sabet’s fellow prisoners in Evin Prison, Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, has spoken out in defense of Sabet and other Baha’i prisoners on several occasions.
● In a statement released inside Evin Prison in January 2023, Mr. Mohammadi recalled the moment he saw Mr. Sabet return to Evin Prison, saying: “Mabash was standing there, coughing repeatedly, pale and still wearing his summer clothes. “She was standing with her clothes on when she was arrested on July 31,” he said, referring to the fact that she was not wearing warm clothing in winter, a clear indication of the prison authorities’ neglect of Ms. Sabet’s health.
● Masih Alinejad, an Iranian women’s rights activist living in the United States, also read a letter sent by Ms. Sabet in December 2023 and released a video statement praising her courage in confronting persecution and injustice.
Learn more about the persecution of Baha’is in Iran
In recent months, there has been increased international interest and concern about the human rights of Baha’is in Iran, particularly the situation of Iranian Baha’i women.
● The latest developments on Ms Sabet’s health situation come just weeks after 18 UN experts accused the Iranian government of increasing attacks on Baha’i women. Baha’i women in Iran face intersectional persecution as women and as Baha’is.
● Meanwhile, earlier this week, the United Nations General Assembly passed its latest resolution condemning human rights violations in the Islamic Republic and chastising the Iranian government for its actions against the Baha’i faith. People who are attacked, harassed and targeted because of their faith are reportedly facing increasing restrictions and systematic persecution by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, resulting in mass arrests and lengthy prison sentences. We have arrested key members and intensified property confiscation and destruction.”
● A new report was recently released. Outsiders: Multifaceted violence against Baha’is in the Islamic Republic of Iran Abdorahman Borumand, Iran Center for Human Rights, said UN special rapporteurs, including the new Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Professor Mai Sato, and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Professor Nazila Ghanea, have responded to the systematic repression in Iran. talked. It is a Baha’i community specifically targeting Baha’i women.
● A grim recent example of persecution was last October in Isfahan, when 10 Baha’i women were sentenced to a total of 90 years in prison. The women were found guilty of opposing the Iranian government after organizing educational and cultural activities, including language, art, and yoga classes for children. Iranian authorities considered this a deviant educational activity.
● The latest international inquiry also includes a letter signed by 18 UN experts in October. It accuses Iran of targeting Baha’i women through home raids, travel bans and long prison terms. Experts, including the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of opinion and expression, called the government’s actions “a continuing pattern of targeted discrimination.” And here’s a report released by Human Rights Watch earlier this year: boots on my neckIran’s 45-year systematic suppression of the Baha’i faith was defined as a “crime of persecution against humanity.”
